MBBS students to visit wards from 2nd year

NEW DELHI: Undergraduate medical students will now get the feel of being a real doctor — ward visits, patient interaction and evening rounds — from the second year of MBBS onwards. 

The Medical Council of India (MCI), as part of its new curriculum for undergraduate medical education, has decided to introduce a new training or "clerkship" under which medical students will be attached to resident doctors to accompany them during rounds, help in managing patients and talk to them, thereby improving their communication skills and help patients cope better with their illnesses. They however, will not treat patients. 

Speaking to TOI, member of MCI's governing bodyDr Sita Naik said, "The current medical training is boring and classroom oriented. We are therefore reviving a practice that used to exist 20 years back in India – assign undergraduate students to wards. They will then help resident doctors with managing patients. 

They will, however, not prescribe treatment but just assist residents." 

Dr Naik added, "This will give them early clinical exposure and excite them. Right from the second year, students will have access to wards and clinics. This will make them feel they are part of clinical practice. At present, students don't go to wards. Instead, they are taught anatomy and physiology in class." According to MCI, medical science "attracts the brightest minds but does not challenge their brains". 

"This practice of students assisting resident doctors fell through in the last 20 years as medical training became more classroom oriented. Maybe it was because too many students were attached to a single resident who found it an additional headache. Now, we will reintroduce the system to make medical education more clinical based," Dr Naik said. 

MCI governing body member Prof Ranjit Roychoudhury told TOI that the crucial meeting to finalise the UG and PG curriculum will take place on March 29. Union health secretary K Chandramouli will chair the meeting which will be attended by top academicians and vice-chancellors. 

Speaking to TOI, health secretary K Chandramouli said, "Experts will meet on March 29 and talk about the latest developments in medicine and go through various subjects. Curriculum always need to be finetuned to move with the times. We will see what important things are not there in the curriculum at present. After reaching a consensus, we will implement whatever can be incorporated into the curriculum immediately while the rest will be put later." 

At the end of the undergraduate medical training, MCI says, the students should be able to perform a through and systematic physical examination of any organ-system of the body, performing core clinical tasks.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/MBBS-students-to-visit-wards-from-2nd-year/articleshow/7696921.cms

Neighbour whom Radhika slapped is prime suspect

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police are close to a breakthrough in the Radhika Tanwar murder casewith a youth from her neighbourhood, with whom she had developed strained relations, emerging as the prime suspect. He had been reportedly slapped by the 20-year-old student of Ram Lal Anand College two weeks back for harassing her. The same day her family members are alleged to have thrashed him. Police sources believe the motive for the crime could be avenging this humiliation. 

The police have detained another youth, also a resident of Naraina, from the Lodhi Colony area for allegedly helping the suspect. Their names are being withheld by TOI till they are formally accused of the crime by the cops. 

Radhika, a resident of Naraina, had been shot dead on a foot overbridge outside Ram Lal Anand College near Dhaula Kuan on Tuesday morning by an unidentified person. The assailant had escaped quite easily and apparently there was some delay in rushing Radhika to hospital. This has led to widespread outrage and students have been holding protests since then with political parties and MPs too joining in condemning the police. This has put the force under tremendous pressure. 

The youth has been detained and is being interrogated by the south district police. Officials confirmed that his face matches the portrait made by experts after the murder. 

(Read: Murdered DU girl's family says sketch resembles 'stalker' who was beaten up) 

"Some friends and close family members have told us that the suspect's sketch matches with the person who had stalked her some time back. They were aware of an incident which happened some time back," H G S Dhaliwal, DCP (South), told TOI. "They have told us that the portrait largely resembles the person who was involved in the incident." 

He added that the sketch was prepared on the basis of vague recollections of three persons who saw the attacker running away. "Nobody has seen him from the front...We are verifying it." Police sources, however, said that Radhika's friends had given valuable inputs for the sketch. 

The sources said the youth was trailing Radhika for the past few days continuously and harassing her. "Some friends of Radhika have come forward and identified the man from the sketches we had released. They have told us that she had complained to them about him earlier. We are interrogating him,'' confirmed a source. 

The police got the breakthrough after a friend of Radhika, who is from Ram Lal Anand College, told them about the fight between her and this person. Refusing to be named, he told TOI: "She used to know the guy and was friendly with him. He stayed in her neighbourhood but was studying in a different college. Then they had a falling out a while back. Fifteen days ago they had a violent argument after which we had learnt that Radhika's family had thrashed him. He was said to be jealous of her other friends and she would complain to us that she was often being followed by him. She had, in fact, told him publicly to stay away from her. We recognized him from the sketch released by the police and are helping them". 

Some other friends of Radhika, who too wished to remain anonymous, said they were afraid that they would be targeted and were hence keeping quiet. "In fact, this guy had turned up at an amusement park a few days back unannounced and Radhika had an argument with him,'' said one of the friends. 

"We are working on the case right now and we have leads,'' said a tightlipped Dhaliwal. He said the incident of stalking had not been reported to the police. "There is no documentation of the incident as it was not reported to the police. Usually in such incidents people do not approach the police," he said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Neighbour-whom-Radhika-slapped-is-prime-suspect/articleshow/7675558.cms